By Mélanie, on Sunday, January 10, 2010

Happy New Year !!

Did you have a nice and well-deserved vacation ? What can I wish for you for the next year? Travels and changes of scenery, a fulfilling job or hobby, of course a lot of learning, sharing fun times with the ones you love? And let’s not forget good food! ;-)

Wow. Now that I think about it, that’s exactly how I ended 2009 and started 2010! Traveling to Normandy wasn’t such a long journey, but it was indeed a change of scenery. The countryside was silent, even more when the snow started falling. The pale green of the meadows lighten by the winter sun was soon replaced by a pure white.

My friends and I had a great time visiting Lisieux and Honfleur. Yes, there was a snowball fight. And we enjoyed meeting the neighbors. I did learn the sheep language, as this one can testify. I’m not so good with horses, but my friend J. seems to master the art, as he even persuaded them to pose pour la photo.

The last thing that I came back with was a new idea for a cake. Pretty rare around these times, isn’t it? I can’t explain why I haven’t been feeling like baking for the last few months, there’s some personal stuff, and I’m not even sure to understand everything, so I have no clue what the future of this blog is. What I know is that as soon as I imagined the recipe, a smile was on my face : I was thinking about sharing it with you.

So yesterday I spent a few hours in the kitchen, and came up with this variation on the Galette des Rois (King cake). This pastry, made with a rich, flaky crust, and a frangipane filling, is traditionally served at Epiphany in North of France and Paris. It is so popular that you will find them in every bakery from the beginning of the year to the end of January (because you won’t eat only one…). A little bean, the “fève”, was traditionally hidden in it, but, since 1870 it has been replaced by porcelain or plastic figurines. This year, some bakeries have hidden a diamond or a Louis d’Or in one of their galette. Even a paper crown is included with the cake to crown the "king" who finds the fève! And to respect the tradition to the letter, the youngest person should place himself under the table and name the recipient of the share which is indicated by the person in charge of the service. All this to ensure a random distribution! We did not do that when I was a child, and I’m not sure the distribution was really random, as my brother and I happened to find the fève pretty often!

As I told you, the Galettes are usually filled with frangipane. Frangipane is a combination of pastry cream (1/3rd) and almond cream (2/3rd). But you know me, what I like even more than nuts, butter, or sugar are… fruits with nuts, butter and sugar! So I used pistachios instead of almonds for the cream, and combined them with cherries. Yummm… Cherries and pistachios… inside a flaky, buttery crust. Can you imagine? Yes, that’s rich, so don’t eat too much of this. Instead, share it on a Sunday afternoon with your family. And don’t forget to send one kid under the table for the distribution!

For the pastry cream:Put the milk and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat. Bring to simmer. Turn off the heat.In the bowl of an electric mixer, whisks the yolk with sugar. Sift cornstarch into yolk mixture; whisk to blend. Gradually whisk in hot milk. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and make sure the yolks are well mixed with the milk.Return to saucepan. Whisk constantly over medium heat until pastry cream boils and is very thick, about 10 minutes. Keep the mixture at boil, whisking energetically, for about 3 minutes, then remove the pan from heat and let transfer to a large bowl, covering with a plastic wrap (against the surface, to prevent the formation of a film). Refrigerate the cream.

For the pistachio frangipane: In the large bowl of your food processor, beat at high speed the eggs, the sugar and the butter until creamy. Add the ground almonds and pistachios, pulse until incorporated.

With a whisk, incorporate the pastry cream to the pistachio cream.

Lay the pistachio frangipane on one of the puff pastry disc, on on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The cream should be dense, not flowing. Spread the cherries on the cream.Brush lower disc side with egg yolk and place the second disc on top. Press the sides together so that the frangipane won’t leak. Using a knife, do small cuts on the side (we call this “chiqueter”).Cut off a small hole in the top disc centre, brush with egg yolk and decorate.

VERY IMPORTANT : Leave the galette in a cool place for at about one hour. I forgot to do that for my first one, and half of the filling ended on my cooking tray…

By Mélanie, on Monday, December 14, 2009

This is a very special occasion for me. I know that I have not been very active on this blog lately (well, ok, 4 months is maybe a little more than “lately”), but you’re always there for the subjects closest to my heart.My last entry was meant to share with you my respect for locally grown, fresh, natural produces, and the hard work of farmers and producers. This helps me to trust food again, and accept that it represents life.

And this is the most important point: yes, food is life. But millions of people in the world don’t have access to the food they need. We can’t let them starve without doing anything.I’ve felt concerned about this subject ever since I saw this campaign from Action against Hunger in 1998 (their website is there in English, or in French).

So of course, the sixth edition of the Menu for Hope, started by Chez Pim, is a wonderful occasion for everyone, including you, to win a food related prize while feeling good about raising money for a great cause!

Menu for Hope is an annual fund raising campaign that support the UN World Food Programm. As Pim explains, “each December, food bloggers from all over the world join the campaign by offering a delectable array of food-related prizes for the Menu for Hope raffle. Anyone – and that means you too – can buy raffle tickets to bid on these prizes. For every $10 donated, you earn one virtual raffle ticket to bid on a prize of your choice. At the end of the two-week campaign, the raffle tickets are drawn and the results announced on Chez Pim.”For more details on this fundraiser, please visit Chez Pim .You can make your (tax-deductible) donation online through FirstGiving. We, bloggers, never touch the money. But we will send to the winners some delicious packages, such as :

Start your culinary travel in Brittany with hand harvested fleur de sel from Guérande and sea salt toffees, and continue in Burgundy with this 3 kinds of Dijon mustard from Edmond Fallot. In addition to the classical Dijon mustard and the mustard seeds, the tarragon perfumed one will add an unexpected touch of color to your dressing .You’ll also find a beautiful box of Marco Polo tea from the famous Mariage Frères (yes, the one Blair’s mother brought back from Paris on Monday’s episode of Gossip Girl), along with heart shaped sugars.And of course, you wouldn’t think of a box without chocolate! You’ll find 3 different kinds of Valrhona dark (Caraïbe and Manjari Orange) and milk chocolate (Jivara pecan) (total 400g), as well as a box of pure cocoa powder. I don’t need to tell you that Valrhona is THE chocolate used by the best pastry chefs in the world. Once you’ll taste them, you’ll know why.

This prize ships worldwide.

I have no doubt you’ll enjoy it. Believe me, the toughest will be to do without them once the packages are finished!

Please go to the Firstgiving Donation Site to bid on this. Last year, Menu for Hope raised about $90,000. Help us do even better this year! You can check David's site to find out the other bid item for the European region.

Thank you so much for your support!

(A little explanation in French, and you’ll find the bidding instructions at the bottom of this post.)

Here's what you need to do:1. Choose a bid item or bid items of your choice from our Menu for Hope main bid item list.2. Go to the donation site at Firstgiving and make a donation.3. Please specify which bid item you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per bid item, and please use the bid item code.Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a bid item of your choice. For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02 - 2xEU01, 3xEU02.4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.5. Please check the box to allow us to see your email address so that we can contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

By Mélanie, on Monday, November 30, 2009

Hi! First, I'd like to thank you for your messages, showing me that you were waiting for me to post again. But I've got to re-adjust. I think I'm in the right direction. Even though I don't have a recipe, I just wanted to share this with you...

Don't you think those vegetables are the most beautiful thing? I don't mind waiting in line for 30 minutes at Joel Thiebault's stand as I'm in contemplation of his various produces.So I came back with 3 kind of beets, 4 kinds of carrots, turnips, squash...Doesn't this red beet look like a mouse?

And I could not resist those flowers. They could brighten up any rainy day!

By Mélanie, on Monday, August 10, 2009

Today, we are celebrating two events :

- I am happy to announce that the "baby sister" of this blog is created! As I told you, this new blog is not at all about culinary experiences. I've often regretted not to know the city I live in better. So I'm going to visit Paris, take pictures, and every day, photo by photo, you'll be able to visit with me. During the week-ends, it will be more relaxing with beautiful sceneries of the French countryside, that my friend Claire will be sharing with you. The blog's name is Country and the City, and I hope you'll visit regularly. Tell us if you like it!

This week is (almost was, as, once again, I'm waiting for the last days to finally post these!!)dedicated to stone fruit.

Now, I'm not sure cherries are considered as stone fruits... I've never heard of a "stone fruit" category in France, but they have stone, they are in trees, so I hope it's right... At least there are some peaches in the recipe too.

In our garden, we have had difficulties with stone fruits. I love spring time, when the apricot tree and the cherry tree are blossoming. They have these small pale pink and white flowers, and when the wind blows, it looks like it's snowing. Just for that, it is worth having them. But, as you can see, our cherry tree is not very prolific. The roses climbing in the tree is much more!

Fortunately, our local producer has lots of cherries, including Montmorency cherries, which are more on the sour side than the regular ones. They are perfect to include in this almond clafoutis.

Grease the 4 ramekins with butter and sprinkle with a tablespoon sugar. Arrange the fruits inside.Preheat oven to 350°F.In a bowl, mix together the eggs with the sugar and the vanilla extract. Add eggs and butter. Add and mix in half flour, then cream. Add remaining flour and milk. Make sure there are no lump.Pour on the fruits and bake for 40 minutes. Five minutes before the ending, sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon sugar.Serve warm or at room temperature.

By Mélanie, on Tuesday, August 4, 2009

This second recipe is a little late for the summer fest week. We're now talking about stone fruits, so I'm off subject here. But maybe you have a prolific mint like me & my mother do. Or maybe you bought a bunch for a recipe and you're left with a handful of leaves, no knowing what to do next. Well, here I am with the solution! Ain't I nice?

you'd better say yes, have you seen this rolling pin?

This recipe is, once again, very simple to assemble. This is all about summer, and the last thing we want is to spend a whole sunny day inside, cooking... It's time to rest, to go to the beach or to discover the parks of your city. It's also time to enjoy the bright simplicity of fruits. Just a sablée crust and mint will make the sweet flavors of ripe strawberries stand out. There's no need for cream. No, I said no pastry cream. No whipped cream. Don't insist. I had doubts too. Then I tasted it. No doubts anymore. You can do it.

About the tart crust : this is the fourth recipe on my blog. Whatever the recipe, please make it yourself and don't use a store-bought one. It's really easy, there's no reason to be afraid. Don't hesitate to put a lot of flour on your kitchen counter before rolling it. And if it breaks, it ok, just press it together in your pie form. There is NO comparaison between a store-bought crust and a homemade...

First mix sugar, flour, salt and the butter for a few seconds. Mix in the egg and, with your hand palm, press the dough about 3 times, just until it forms a ball that holds together. Flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.Preheat oven to 340°F.Roll out dough into a on a floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Delicately fold the rolled dough in 4, to lift it easily, and unfold in the tart form. Prick bottoms all over with a fork and bake 15 minutes.

Once the crust cooled, arrange diced strawberries on top, in a concentric form.In a small saucepan, heat the jelly with 1 Tbps water until liquid. Brush the strawberries with the jelly.Slice thinly the mint leaves, and sprinkle over the pie.

By Mélanie, on Monday, August 3, 2009

You know this feeling, when you're rushing through the airport, running and hoping you'll get in time before the plane takes off? The adrenaline is pumping, but deep down you know that you can make it, that, no matter how tired you are, it's going to be alright. You won't give up.Well, that exactly how I feel right now. It's 2 a.m. in Paris and I want to post this recipe before the end of the day (US time. no, it's not cheating). To my regret, I have not participated to a lot of blog events (one, actually), but when I saw that Todd and Diane, of White on Rice Couple, collaborated to the Summer Fest 2009, I knew I wanted to be part of this.

This event is "a four-week celebration of fresh-from-the-garden food: recipes, growing tips, even tricks for storing and preserving summer’s best". Some people may think that they are not concerned because they live in an apartment. But if you have even a windowsill, you can have some fresh aromatic herbs at home.

Because I grew up in a house with a garden, filled with stone fruits trees (apricots, peaches, cherries), berries, tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs (and LOTS of flowers...), this is something I really missed when moving to Paris.Fortunately, I have now a balcony, and my first plantation was for a little corner of kitchen delights : rosemary, thyme, basil, etc...

But the easiest herb to grow is mint. It's almost like weeds, appearing in every corner of my jardinière. If you don't want this, you should plant it in a separate part. I don't mind though, because i really enjoy its fresh and peppery flavor during the summer. It will make a huge difference in a simple fruit salad, but really, when it's hot outside, you can just add it to anything!I'm going to post a few (and sooo easy) recipes with mint to give you some ideas... There was the strawberry and watermelon smoothie.This is a chilled cucumber soup, perfect as an appetizer, with some friends on a warm evening.

In a blender purée cucumber and mint with buttermilk and salt until smooth (I start with one third of the cucumber and all the buttermilk, and then I add gradually the rest, so that the cucumber doesn't get stuck in my blender). Keep in refrigerator. Before serving, add 3 shrimps in each bowl.Served chilled.

By Mélanie, on Saturday, July 25, 2009

One year ago, I started this blog. Like for a baby, this first year was mainly about learning. I needed understand about how to write, about the importance of plating and composing, about CSS (still not great!!), etc...

Even though I have still so much room to improve, I feel there has been some progress. I have enrolled in photoshop classes. I've discovered RSS feeds. I now know how to change the blog layout. I pay much more attention to the light in my photography. I've become familiar with new cooking techniques. I've even sewed a tablecloth (and learned how not to show the twisted hem in picture ;-)

I am happy I had the occasion to learn all of this. And I'm very excited about the future steps! One of them is the blog remodeling, and I wished I had finished it today. I did try, but, boy, am I slow when it comes to "!-- #.a hover@ dd: exp }". Do this looks like swears words to you too?

However, I have one big news. I'm glad to announce that this blog is going to have a baby sister. It's due for this summer. I'm still thinking about names... There's going to be much less talking. No food. But a lot more to see. Can't wait!

For this occasion, I want to share with you a special treat, the quintessence of this blog. It represents everything I love in a dessert. It's not too sweet, got plenty of fruits in it, their flavors brightened up by the almonds. This simple tart captures the summer mood.

The gorgeous raspberries are so fresh that it feels like sunshine in your mouth. Their acidity is partialy offset by the rich almond cream, which is layered over a sablée crust. Now do you really wonder why this has always been one of my favorite dessert? I thought I was the only one, but the number of "second"-servings proves me wrong! Although you can find it in almost any bakery in France, I had never prepared one myself. What a better time than a first year anniversary for this?

For the sablée tart shell, you can use one of these recipe :- From J. Robuchon, my favorite, the one that has been used in my family for years. It's a little bit more difficult, sticky and has to be rolled thinly (because there is not so much dough). However, once you'll taste it, you'll forget the difficulties.- From S. Glacier, easier, and tasty enough to compete with the one from Joel Robuchon. But be careful, there's a lot of dough, so it will be enough for a tart + 1 or 2 tartlets.- The sugar pie crust from P. Hermé. Yields 3 tart shells, so you can freeze 2 and have it ready for another time.

Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round.Slide bottom of tart pan (separate from rim) under dough and set into rim of tart pan. Cut off excess dough, leaving 1/2-inch overhang, and fold overhang inward. Press dough against side of pan, pushing dough 1/4 inch above rim. Lightly prick bottom of shell all over with a fork and chill until firm, 10 to 15 minutes.Bake until side is set and edge is pale golden, about 12 minutes.

During that time, prepare the almond cream. Mix together sugar, almond flour and butter. Beat in the eggs.Pour into the par-baked shell and bake 20 more minutes.Let cool.

Arrange raspberries over the cooled pie.

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over the water, and let it sit.Put remaining berries and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat until cooked (about 5 minutes). Puree with a fork or in your blender. Pass through a sieve to keep only the juice and mix with gelatin while it's still warm.Pour over the raspberry tart.